For The Better
by Ississ-Perok
Summary: Many things can change; appearance, beliefs, even feelings. These changes can happen over a long period of time, or in an instant. Sometimes they can be for the better, sometimes they can be for the worse. You can never see them coming.


**This is my first one-shot. It may be a little OOC, but I tried my best for it not to be. The theme or prompt is _Change._ **

**In this story I'm using both Gray and Grey. **

**Gray= The Ice Mage**

**Grey= The Color**

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She thought that her feelings had changed. Maybe it was because he didn't pay attention to her, but he never had. So was it Juvias fault? Was she falling out of love? These thoughts ran through her head causing the confusion to grow. She sat in the middle of guild, but she didn't notice anyone, and no one seemed to notice her. She involuntarily let out a sigh.

"Juvia what's wrong?"

The voice sounded worried, but also stern. Juvia immediately knew who it was.

"Erza." she said as she turned to face the red head.

"You seem upset."

Erza sat down across from Juvia and looked her in the eyes.

"Is something wrong?" she asked

"Juvia is changing." she stated

"You're changing?"

"Yes, and Juvia doesn't like it."

She realized when she said it out loud. She was changing. Being in the guild, being with her friends, being with Gray, it didn't have the same feel as it used to. She used to be filled with unimaginable excitement and content when she just got a glance at the ice mage. But now she only gets butterflies on occasion.

"Erza, Juvia doesn't know what to do..."

"Care to share what's wrong?" She asked in response

"Juvia doesn't get the feeling anymore."

"What feeling?"  
"The feeling she gets when she is with Gray-sama." Juvia continued "It's not the same."

Erza had a determined look on her face.

"Did he do something wrong?"

"No!" Juvia half yelled. A few guild members turned to see what she was yelling about, including Gray. "Gray-sama did nothing wrong. It's Juvia."

Saying everything out loud made her think harder. It was starting to make her head hurt. Juvia slowly stood up.

"Juvia is going to go get some fresh air."

She wanted to think alone. She wanted to reason with herself. Erza watched as Juvia left the guild. The big doors opened and revealed the sky. It was a light grey color and rain was lightly falling. Erza was able to confirm that Juvia was very troubled. When the doors closed Erza got up and walked over to Gray who was sitting across the room.

"Gray we need to talk."

She put her hand on his shoulder and sat down.

"What is it Erza?" Gray asked

"It's Juvia."

"What about her?" His voice strained a bit when he asked. Erza picked up the slight change. She normally would've laughed, but now wasn't the right time.

"She's upset."

"Oh, how upset?"

The timing seemed to be perfect and Lucy and Natsu walked into the guild. Erza and Gray looked at the doors; Gray noticed that it was raining.

"That upset?" He asked

"Yeah..." Erza replied

"Why are you telling me? It's not my problem."

"It is."

Gray looked Erza in the eyes and noticed how serious she was.

"Do you remember what we discussed at the Grand Magic Games?" Erza asked

He avoided her gaze.

"You do remember." she sighed

"Yeah..."

They sat in silence for a while. Erza abruptly stood up and started to walk away.

"Erza?" he asked

"Let me just say this." Erza stated "You're going to lose her."

Gray didn't have time to respond.

"You may think that she will always be there, clinging to you." Erza continued "But people change, Juvia is no exception."

Erza left. Gray sat alone at the table. He cursed under his breath and got up and headed for the exit.

"I know that." He muttered

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Juvia sat in the park alone. Everyone had left because of the rain. Her pink umbrella kept her from getting wet. She sighed as she looked around. Grey skies, rain, gloominess. It was all too familiar. Her mind reverted back to Gray. Why was she feeling this way now? Did she not love him anymore? No, Juvia didn't want to believe that. The times that she was with Gray she was filled with great amounts of happiness. She wanted that back. Juvia needed a push, just a small one. She stood up and walked to the river. There she let her toes dangle in the water. Everything was quiet; the pattern of the rain calmed her down. She liked the rain, she loved the rain. But she loved the sun to. Gray showed her the sun. She felt a tear stream down the side of her face. She was crying from confusion. Something Juvia had not done before.

"Why?" she asked, "Why is Juvia crying?"

He had cheered her up, shown her the sun, and sacrificed his life for her! What was she doing? Nothing. She sat here doing nothing. Not confronting Gray, just keeping everything to herself. She should be trying, trying like she always does. Gray had slowly been changing, slowly opening himself up...

A splashing sound interrupted her thoughts. It sounded like someone was running through puddles. She quickly wiped her tears away and looked around.

"Juvia?!" a voice called

It was Gray. He was running through the rain calling for Juvia.

"God damn it..." He muttered, "Why do I have to do this?"

Juvia stood up and made eye contact with him.

"Gray-sama..." She trailed off "You're all wet."

Juvia quickly rushed over to Gray and put her umbrella over him, allowing herself to be rained on.

"Stupid, don't stand in the rain." Gray said

He grabbed her other arm and pulled her under the umbrella with him. Juvia was too stunned to move. Her heart beat picked up and her face turned bright red. She could feel herself being warmed up from his body heat. She was too scared to look up at Gray.

"Juvia your warm." Gray stated

"W-What?" She stuttered

Gray clicked his tongue.

"Guess we have no choice." he stated quickly changing the subject

"Choice?"

"Yeah, we'll have to go back to the guild like this."

Juvia knew what he meant. They would go under the same umbrella. They walked in silence but Juvias heart was racing. Though she had always fantasized about something like this, she is more embarrassed then she thought she would be. She was already feeling lightheaded and it had only been a few minutes. Gray was walking so close to her. The feeling that she had been missing was slowly returning. Maybe this was the push. Gray had tried. Juvia was once again lost in thought. Gray suddenly stopped.

"Gray-sama?" Juvia asked

"Juvia, listen..."

Gray stuttered and was looking down at the ground.

"What is it Gray-sama? Juvia is listening."

Gray suddenly took Juvias hand and her heart skipped a beat. Even Gray's heart jumped. He was surprised by his own action. He wasn't very good at this stuff, and he admitted it.

"Juvia I'm not very good at this."

"Gray-sama, w-what?'"

Juvias heart was going to jump out of her chest. She was going to melt! But the feeling had returned to her. She felt his warmth spread through her body. She realized what Gray was going to say and it made her so happy! She hadn't fallen out of love! A wave of relief washed over her. Her unrequited love was about to be returned. But Juvia couldn't see her Gray-sama saying something like that.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia sang

She dropped the umbrella and threw her arms around him. Gray was started but let it happen.

'So she's back to normal?' he thought to himself

Juvia snuggled up on his chest. They were both covered in rain and drenched.

"J-Juvia," Gray started "What are you doing?"

Gray tried regaining his composure. He replayed the last couple of seconds. He was about to do something completely out of character. But Juvia stopped him. She must have realized, Juvia really did like him. He let her hug him, their bodies warmed up each other. The sky slowly cleared, but they still stood there. Gray was happy and gently returned her hug. They both knew that after this things wouldn't be the same. But they were both okay with that.

"Juvia, when are you going to let go?" Gray asked

"_Never." _ She stated moving even closer

"Scary." he muttered

They were a perfect pair, water and ice. Deep in their hearts they both agreed that on that day, things had changed for the better.

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**I hope I didn't make them seem so out of character, but I enjoyed writing this story. It was one of the hardest things to write because I'm not very experienced with romance.**

**Hope you enjoyed reading!**


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